The Western Union Foundation today announced its support for vocational education in Nigeria by providing Gabasawa Women and Children Initiative (GWCI) a USD $98,500 grant to support school libraries around Nigeria.

GWCI is dedicated to bringing marginalised and fringe families into the mainstream of society, giving hope to the hopeless and the forgotten wherever we find them.

It takes concrete steps to offer underprivileged women the psychological, educational and professional tools and support they need to succeed in life. Orphans and vulnerable children are also a priority for the organisation, which provides essential health care services and information and solutions for community child care.

Founder of GWCI, Doris Yaro said, “One of the objectives of GWCI is to encourage reading culture among Nigerian students by providing reading facilities in public schools that have poor library facilities. The Western Union Foundation is a natural collaborator as we share the same vision of promoting education.

“Our combined efforts have brought results that will change lives. This project will address the core problem of poorly-equipped libraries, making teaching difficult for teachers,” said Doris Yaro, founder of Gabasawa Women and Children Initiative.

The Western Union Foundation is providing this grant through its Agent Giving Program, which provides Western Union Agents with a unique opportunity to come together in support of education, economic opportunity and disaster relief initiatives.

Agents who generously contributed towards this project are Skye Bank, GTBank, Diamond, UBA, Ecobank Nigeria and FBN - together donated USD $68,500, with the Western Union Foundation Agent Giving Program contributing USD $30,000 in additional funding.

The funds raised are meant to refurbish, stock and furnish Arch Deacon Adelaja Boys Secondary School in Bariga, Lagos (1,000 students) and Community Senior High School, in Alapere, Ketu, Lagos (800 students).

With these two new projects, Western Union’s “Read to Succeed” programme has benefited a total of nine public schools in the country. Donations include furniture, computers, books and other media.

Commissioning for these school library projects was scheduled for May 26, 2015.

“The Western Union Foundation seeks out NGOs that share its priorities of lifting people out of poverty through education,” said Patrick Gaston, President of Western Union Foundation. “Our collaboration with Gabasawa Women and Children Initiative is the ideal way of reaching out to children and making a difference in their lives. Through this project, we encourage students to read by providing them with a suitable reading environment.”

Since 2001, the Western Union Foundation has given more than $101.1 million through 3,095 grants and donations. Its support has benefited 2,739 organisations in more than 135 countries and territories, from large global NGOs to small local nonprofits and charities. The Foundation has also worked with 517 Western Union Agents in charitable programs and brought disaster relief to over 142 operations in 65 countries around the world.

•Photo shows students in a library.

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